Concrete building unit



'July 1, 1930.

O. A. PEDERSEN CONCRETE BUILDING U NIT Filed March 11, 1927 2 Sheets-Shee l w w I Z w 15 an. a"! Z1 14 y 1930- v o. A. PE'TDERSEN I 1,768,62

CONCRETE BUILDING UNIT Filed March 11, 1927 2 Sheets-Shee 2 W H1 w r 23 j 7 J8 Patented July 1, 1930 U I D S;

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, concnn'rn BUILDING UNIT Application-.filedMarch- 11, 1927. Serial No. 174,49

article of thisclass inwhich the spacing and reinforcing means? are in the form of steel building unit.. means 7 for insulating; the slabs and for preventing passage of'moistur'e and cold between the same;

The'invention further aims to provide: in conjunction with a-bui-lding'unit comprising spaced slabs of building material and steel beams for spacing and reinforcing the slabs, means for connecting and tyingthe reinforc- 7 ing elements of the slabs-to the steel beams whereby a stronger and more eflicient construction is'obt'ained.

WVith theabove and further objects in view the invention further resides-in the details of construction and arrangements of parts more particularly pointed out in the following description of the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View of a portion of a steel beam adapted for application in the formation oftlie'building unit of the present invention and showing the preferred means of attaching and tying the "reinforcing. elements of the slabs to the beam;

beam disclosed in Figure 1 V Figure, 3, is. a. sectional transverse, view of the beamitalien. on, the line. 3-8. ofFigure 2; Figure, 4:. isa sectional transverse view w through; a. buildingunit utilizing the; beam disclosed; in Figures. 1, 2% and 3. and showing; the manner; iniwhich .the, reinforcing; elements (if? the slabsjane. attached $01 the beams;

: Figure /5';is saiplan view of a modified form of beam adaptedzfor application in the for mationof a building unitcomprisingthe pres- Thus by'myc onstruction, I provide a buildent invention FigureG-is abottomview'ofthemodified v I material in which'thespacing and reinforc form of beam;

beams and to provide in conjunction withthe Figure 2iis a side elevational view of'the;

' Figure 7 is an end elevational view of the modified form of beam; and Figure 8 is a transverse sectional view through a building unit utilizing the modifled form of beam. v

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which I have shown by way of example several preferred embodiments of the present invention, in the modification shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, I prefer- 601 ably employ as the spacing and' reinforcing means for the slabssteel I"-beams-:10v and 11 which are placedone on top of the other in superposed relation and. arespaced from one another; bymeans-of" insulating material 12 which may be either wood, fibrous" or any other insulatin'gmateria-l. The beams 10 and 11 areclampedtogether as by'meansof'rivets 13 and'preferablyaround eachrivetjis placed ,a' steel washer or bushing lllto add strength and stability to the structure and totake up the stresses to which'thebeam is subjected in service. It will be understood that the busln ings 14 are not anessential feature of the invention and that they may be omitted but their omission would cause a decreasein the strength of the buildingjunit because of the fact that the insulatingmaterial12 possesses relatively small strength and ability to withstand strain. Beneath theheads of the rivets, I preferably employinsulating washers,15. On the; top and bottom of] the members formed by the superposition and clamping together ofv th'e-beams,10 and 11, Iprefen ably 'form prongs 16, the purpose of which will be apparent from [a consideration of Figure 4;. This figure shows the beam incorporated in a building'unit'and by refer ence to'said. figure it willbe noted that the building unit comprises spaced slabs 17 and 18" ofconcrete or similar building material. I In each. slabthere' are incorporated reinforcingv elements, 19a-nd; 20 which may be in the I form offwi re mesh, ametal lath, or any other variety. The reinforcing elements 19 and 20 of the slabs areengaged by the prongs 16 o'fthe beams so that they are tied to the beams lug-unit composed of spaced slabs of building ing means are in the form of steel beams and in which the steel beams interengage and interlock with the reinforcments in the slabs.

The insulation of the slabs 17 and 18 is not a perfect one as far as cold is concerned owing to the fact that there is some conductivity of cold through the steel beams. It will be appreciated, however, that the beams may be made perfectly nonconductive by completely insulating the members 10 from the members 11 but such insulation must be obtained-at the sacrifice of strength and I have found it preferable to employ the construction de-' are situated closer to the outside slabs 17 than to the inside slab 18. The purpose of placing the insulation close to the outside slab is to form a dead air pocket of such small width that the convection air currents do not have an opportunity to form and the conduction of moisture and cold by means of the convection air currents isv thus practically eliminated. I thus provide a double means for in Q sulating the building units, first by the use of insulating material and second by the presence of a dead air space between the slabs. In actual practise the space separating the outside slab from the insulation is made as small as one inch where the total thickness of the building unit is from eight to ten inches.

7 In Figures 5 to 8 I have disclosed a modified form of construction in which a special type of steel I-beam 30 is employed. The top of this steel I-beam has upwardly extending side flanges 31 provided with prongs 82 adapted to be bent down into horizontal position as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 7. The bottom of the I-beams 33 are similar in character to the prongs of the first modification described. The I-beam supports on its sides two small channel irons 3a which are Welded or otherwise attached in position. When the beam is incorporated in the build- ;ing unit as indicated in Figure 8, the channel irons serve to accommodate and support the insulating planks 35. In this modification of the invention the insulating planks are also placed closer to the outer slab 17 for the same purpose as in the modification first described. The prongs on the bottom of the beam also engage the reinforcing elements 20 of the lower slab 18 for tying the lower slab and securing the same more firmly to the beam. On the top of the beam an insulating member 36 is disposed and is clamped in place by bending down the left hand prongs 32. The right hand prongs 32 of the beam serve to engage and interlock with the min forcing element 19 of the slab 17 and to tie the same to the beam. The provision of the insulating member 36 cuts down to a great extent the amount of cold'capable of passing through the I-beam and provides a better insulation for the building unit.

By my invention I haveprovided a building unit utilizing steel beams which is very strong and sturdy in construction and amply capable of withstanding the forces and stresses to which it is subjected in service. I use a reinforcing and spacing means for the concrete slabs and at the same time provide means for tying the slabs to said means so that there is no danger of the slabs falling apart and the strength of the unit as an en tity is increased to a great extent thereby. I have also provided with a steel reinforced building unit means for insulating the slabs which is extremely effective as far as moisture is concerned although it does leave a small. conductive path through the steel beams for penetration of cold. However, this path has been restricted to such a small size that the amount of cold that can pass through is slight and this disadvantage is more than off set by the increase in strength in the building unit resulting from the employment of the steel spacing and reinforcing means.

While I have described specific embodiments of the invention it will be understood that modifications and variations may be made in the various details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention and I desire to be limited only by the state of the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 7

1. A building unit comprising spaced slabs of building material, and means between the slabs and spaced therefrom for dividing the space between the same into a plurality of separated spaces of difierent sizes,- at least oneof said spaces being so small as to prevent the formation of convection air currents, said means comprising an insulating member positioned between the slabs in parallel relation therewith.

2. A building unit comprising spaced slabs of building material, reinforcing elements in the slabs, steel members for spacing and reinforcing the slabs, prongs on the steel members for engaging the reinforcing elements of the slabs, and insulating members adapted to be disposed between the slabs and supported in grooves on the steel members.

3. A building unit comprising spaced slabs of building material, steel beams embedded in the slabs and insulating members covering the ends of the beams and spacing said beams from the slabs. V r

4. A building unit comprising spaced slabs of building material, steel members embedded therein for spacing and reinforcing said slabs, insulating members disposed between said slabs, and means for supporting said insulating members in spaced parallel relation to said slabs.

5. A building unit comprising spaced slabs of building material, a steel member adapted to support said slabs and disposed between them, a reinforcing element embedded in the slabs, and projecting prongs on said steel element for engaging said reinforcing elements.

6. A building unit comprising spaced concrete slabs, steel I-beams arranged in superposition between the slabs for spacing and reinforcing the same, and insulating members clamped between adjacent beams;

2O 7. A building unit comprising spaced con' 7 crete slabs, flanged steel beams between the slabs for spacing and reinforcing the same, said beams having flanges embedded in said slabs and a member extending transversely of the beams intermediate the ends and flanges thereof.

8. A building unit comprising spaced slabs of cementitious material, metal members between the slabs for spacing and reinforcing the same, and cold insulating means separating said metal members for limiting the passage of cold therethrough.

9. A building unit comprising spaced slabs of cementitious material, metal members bei, tween the slabs for spacing and reinforcing the same, means separating said members for limiting the passage of cold through said metal members. I

10. A building unit comprising spaced slabs of cementitious material, metal members between the slabs for spacing and reinforcing the same, means for limiting the passage of cold through said metal members, and insulating members disposed in the space between the slabs and supported by the metal members.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my I 1 name to this specification this 10th day of March, 1927. a

OSCAR A. PEDERSEN. 

